"Whither Europe?" - UBS' George Magnus Asks What Happens After The ECB Prints

'By George' author, UBS George Magnus asks the right question, and one posed by Zero Hedge two weeks ago, namely even assuming Germany relents and allows the ECB to print, what happens then? "Some argue that Germany will, sooner or later, capitulate on this issue too, since the only real alternative to the ECB adopting a full lender of last resort role is the slimming down of the EZ in what would be dangerous, unpredictable and almost certainly acrimonious circumstances. If the crisis escalates alarmingly, the ECB does look a little more likely to be given the light to widen its remit, even if under conditions. But then what? How would German voters and the powerful banking elite react to ECB policies that would turn the Bundesbank white? And what would the political consequences of further printing of money be? I ask the questions not to disagree, but to emphasise that what many of us think as the logical way out also has consequences that may not be immediately transparent."

Naw, we can and do get by with 32 bit wide registers, you just use sceintific notation. you lose precision, but nobody cares about that except for Mitt Romney. Seriously. About a year ago, Tyler released some photos of the Pentium 2 based PCs Brian Sack runs the POMO operation with. not sarc.

Uncle Warren provides a blinding glimpse of the obvious: "The system as presently designed has revealed a major flaw. And that flaw won’t be corrected just by words. Europe will either have to come closer together or there will have to be some other rearrangement because this system is not working”

No rearrangement can compensate for the real major flaws in Europe; not enough real production to actually meet all the social promises that have been made, and disastrous demographics which will continually make the problem worse. Devalueing the currency and wiping out the middle class, as advocated by clowns like George Magnus, will only speed up the destruction, and hasten the onset of the next Hitler or Stalin. The Germans know this.

I do agree. But here is another question I want to ask on top of all thoughts coming from the above article: "What is happening to democracy in Europe?" I am from Europe although I decided to live abroad. It seems to me that we move away from a free society and I can see the same trend going on in the United States as well. I would not feel comfortable living in a society where cameras are instaled into public street lights. It has to much of a touch of 1984 from Georg Orwell!

Papandreu wanted to ask the Greeks if they want accept the conditions demanded by the EU. Insteed of leting decide the people they put an Ex JPMORGAN manager in charge. This is not democracy!

I like this video, especially due to the fact that a !Russian! news station is the author. What a twisted world we live in. DJIA

Last sentence: "But the reality is the reluctance of creditors to get deeply involved in a debtcrisis, which they claim was not of their making. This is not a blame game, but a recognition of the need for symmetric behaviour".

Good luck with that. What is "needed" and what is both politically and realistically viable are completely different subjects. To discuss what is "needed" without a discussion of viability is a waste of ink. Typical beurocratic idiocy. Go home.

I am still waiting for the currency version of stamps[dot]com. Every man, woman and child in this nation should have the ability to print up their own monies. After all, the Constitution never gave permission to a private central bank to create the nation's currency. Let's get the party started!

Germany will not debase the Euro to save the PIIGS, that much is true. They want the ECB to hold its firepower for the time this mess hits Germany nad the core it self. Now, you can count on it hitting the core and Germany, because they may better off than the PIIGS but not that much better off, they too have huge debts, they have pretty much lost the southern Eurozone export market (broke remember?) and they do have a pile of unfunded liabilities. The ECB will eventually have to print to bail out the core. The periphery will have splintered off by that time.

The PIIGS realize that there is absolutely no incentive to push through unpopular austerity measures, not when the ECB will monetize any future government spending. All bailout countries will keep promising to make reforms, only in as neccessary to secure the next month's bailout. Eventually the ECB's balance sheet expands by trillions of Euros, and then they go all out Goodfellas style.

When you can't borrow another dime from the bank and can't buy another case of booze. You bust the joint out, you light a match.

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Then someday, it all gets rolled up into one great big giant ball called an IMF Consol (or something similar), where ZIRP is instituted in perpetuity, and a single choke-hold upon the people of the world is achieved. Instead of interest, a global admin tax will fund its "maintenance." Think of it as the next ban on usury, while negating the effects of repudiation of odious debt. TADA!

They've got more eggs to break first, though. Germany and the US, in particular. And of course, nearly ALL of the world's banks, sans a few of the privileged ones.

If the ECB prints, it will only be a matter of time before they eat their "seed corn". Everyone knows this. If Germany were to relent, all of Aesop's fables (mankind's experience) will be replaced with binary oughts and naughts. The Borgs will rule the world.

Not surprisingly, nowhere do the words "default" or "restructuring" appear in this banker analysis. The "only" way out is for everyone to surrender sovereignty to the United Bankster Guild, but in the meantime the ECB should print money to ensure that our bond cash flow is undisturbed.

These people are like vampires demanding that they have unfettered access to the central blood bank for transfusions.

......the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain,the ecb will print, the germans will complain.

« The recent troika report on Greece offered a candid admission that austerity had backfired (my language, not theirs) but it’s not clear anyone is listening. The self-evident logic is that it is simply not possible for the private and public sectors to deleverage simultaneously without causing a depression unless you have flexible policy tools including the exchange rate. » (p.5)

Austerity doesn't work within the Eurozone, precisely because countries don't have currency flexibility, that's a point ... along with the fact that the EU authorities admit that they created the Greek disaster with the policies they imposed.

But with that big question of, What will happen when the ECB prints?, so nicely teased out in the lede ... I read the whole piece, and at the end George Magnus has nothing to say about it! He asks the question, and that's the end of the piece! Sheesh! ... Make a guess at least, George, that's why they pay you the big fiat notes there at UBS.

Finger pointing and scapegoats when SHTF. Round up all the usual suspects Louie, cause when inflation hits, economies crumble, gold soars with no offers, and the riots in Greece of late look like Boy Scout picnics, even the Pope will be blamed.

If I'm Silvio B and G-Pap, I would make sure the gold I stole was safe and my mercenary guards are all well paid-up, because the fingers will first be pointed at them. Let the revolution begin in 5...4...3...

All those giant thinkers see the demograhic catastrophe in front of us and advocate to allow for more immigration to ease burden on the states. So where those people will come from to save Europe? Muslim countries, Africa or maybe from S.America? For them only head count is important and we see now new immigration becomes unacceptible to population of Eurpoe (and in for that matter in US and Canada). Now what they see is that all those social systems are not sustainable and have to be dealt with, we coming to fast solutions for that problem, start wars to lower density of population (the problem is - mostly young people are dying), kill all old fuckers using some ingenious method or cut them off from any support of state, they were paying for those benefits over their lifes but states spent all those monies for armies, wars, expanding influence and all that shit, who cares.

Meanwhile MR Buffet+MR Gates+MR Slim can pay for Greece's problems and still can live in luxury. Maybe Mr. Manus can drop few millions into rescue pot, as he's probably one of the biggest beneficiaries of the system and then maybe some other fuckers will join that worthy cause.

kill all old fuckers using some ingenious method or cut them off from any support of state, they were paying for those benefits over their lifes but states spent all those monies for armies, wars, expanding influence and all that shit, who cares.

The ECB will print,the Germans people will have no say,can kicked down road for a few more years,this is gonna be long drawn out and very painful,since when did politicians ever make the right decisions-even when their choices were obvious?

This time they are being threatened and bribed to acquiesce to money printing as the alternative will be the "the end of the world etc etc".

Western governments have massive unfunded welfare liabilities that would have been unaffordable with a healthy growing economy,now, after the various property based ponzi schemes have collapsed,there is no more growth and hence government borrowing has gone exponential,spending cannot be cut as this would act as a drag on "growth"-(the only growth left is as a result of government spending and property),add in bankster bailouts-current AND future, and the system implodes under the weight of debt and the inability to fund it -classic CATCH 22,there is no way out.

Buy wheelbarow futures you Germans,you are about to feel the force of the printing press.

I am from Germany and I can assure you that no one really knows what will happen in Germany. I am part of a generation that grew up with the certainty that next year the income will be bigger than the year before. At the end of the nineties that came to an end. Wages rose not at all in real terms. Nevertheless pensioners (and I know a lot of them) were convinced that public debt would be too high only after their deaths. Quite often I heard the opinion: that is not my problem, I am too old.

That has changed in the last months. Many people from different backgrounds do not believe any longer that problems will be solved quickly or smoothly. I asked the postal worker who delivers our mail, my colleague at the office (tax authority) who told me that he advises his children to get a very good education but not to save any money because it will be worthless in the near future), someone who should advise people where to put their money ( his advise: buy gold and keep some cash at home), in fact I acted as a kind of mini-interviewer for Infratest. The mood is gettinger darker by the week.

A poll for the FAZ (a national newspaper) revealed that politicians are not trustworthy ( 2 p.c. believe they tell the truth). But more impoartant is the fact that BILD -Zeitung , a tabloid, published an article "Bring the Bundesbank-Gold back home!" Some years ago readers could not care less but now even these details get attention. BILD-readers are regarded as rather dumb people, but now even they are cautious.

The parties a the German National Front (Christian democrats, Social Democrats etc) cannot contain the anger any longer. Opposition parties are usually shown as racists, as super-brown gangs and so on but this time the problem is money not the Turks or Arabs. You cannot portray Hans-Olaf Henkel or Frank Schaeffler as Nazis.The Pirate Party in Berlin that got a lot of votes in Berlin is a sign of things to come. They have no program, only vague ideas. Even our local "conservative" MP is irritated. His own staff does not believe what he says.

So we get a lot of bad wheather in Germany but we are accustomed to sunshine (mostly) only.

Adolf Hitler is dead but I know a lot of people who have homes, insurance assets etc to lose. They will act in time.

The German political landscape could be quite different in six months time. You do not see what really happens when you look at German public TV . In this respect Germany today is like the German Democratic Republic in 1989.

Cliff.I feel sorry for you and your people,they are about to be sold down the river by a bunch of lying,incompetent and treacherous traitors.We in the Uk are used to it,and it is too late for our country but for Germany, there is still time.

By the time the German people realise what is going on,how the false promises of how the various fudges and bailouts won't lead to inflation or loss of purchasing power,it will be too late,their money and their security will have gone.

Banks run governments now-it has become so blatant that they don't even try to hide the fact, it doesn't matter who you vote for,the only hope people have are the extreme parties in each country(the brown shirts you refer to)but most people are afraid to consider for fear of being called racist or simply that they lack the credibility of mainstream parties.But when you consider the damage these so called professional politicians are doing to countries across Europe,can the alternative be any worse?-and they will have one thing going for them-they are not controlled or bribed by the bankster elites.This and this alone should be the reason the electorates should vote for them.The current political parties are only going to preserve the current bankster controlled corrupt system.

First post here ever - from a Canadian view of things we're scared shitless by what is going down in the U.S. and Europe. U.S. being our largest trading partner puts us in a vulnerable position (bent over). We are convinced though that the U.S. will start printing and in the very near future. Have any of you read The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin? It maps out the creation of the Federal Reserve and the names of the individuals who got together to create this "monster". After reading it and now witnessing the unraveling of the capitalist system we have in place - it truly is a massive ponzi / pyramid system that has run its course.